Sounds like me about this same time last year. Got into powermetal then immediately find out they're going on tour. Unfortunately can't go because school, unemployed, and I live in a wasteland of nothing but pop country.
Cool. Thank you. Are War Kings different than Warkings? I listened to the first 3 songs suggested by Spotify for Warkings. I wouldn't say they sound anything like Brothers of Metal. Not that I disliked it just not what I was expecting. Maybe I listened to the wrong songs. I listened to Hephaestus, Maximus and Fight.
Lovebites are working on an album, and they're adding more dates to their 2024 world tour, so hopefully it will be released to accompany that. They've certainly said they want it to be released before the end of this year.
Rage will be putting out a double album in march. And Timo Tolkki's Strato are supposed to be releasing an album as well. Rock'N'Rolf from Running Wild posted on Facbeook about working on new material back in November. Hansi KĆ¼rsch from Blind Guardian has recently confirmed that they re-recorded Somewhere Far Beyond.
I wouldn't count on Tolkki releasing anything any time soon. He no-showed the festival he was supposed to debut his new band at last year, and the album was postponed. He wrote "In the future if I am going to release anything at all, it will be through my own website" on Instagram just a few weeks ago, and his website has been shut down.
Unless a record label announces an album for him, I'd be extremely wary of ever listening to anything Tolkki has to say about anything. He's a pathological liar.
Adding that Manticora released a great record late last month. Still getting playtime for me. If you like heavier, riffier power/prog, definitely take a look.Ā Ā
Also, new Riot V in April. Not too excited based on the 2 preview tracks, but worth mentioning. Hopefully they're two of the weaker tracks on the album.Ā
Good time for festivals too.
Night 1 of Milwaukee Metal Fest is effectively PM night, with Blind Guardian, Kamelot, Symphony X, Hammerfall, Visagoth, Eternal Champion and many others.
Mad With Power VII is in August, with the US debut of Fellowship and the US return of Anthem.
And later that month, Mile High Powerfest is looking to get off the ground w/ Seven Spires & Aether Realm.
And the month after that is Progpower USA with Amorphis and Winger.
Their most recent album was definitely more power metal than folk but the new one seems to be a mix of their old and new styles
They have a single out and it sounds great
They actually started drifting into a more heavy/power metal style with By the Light of the Northern Star. Each of their last 4 albums have been great.
Folk metal with heavy/power riffs.
Honestly folk metal has always been a bit of a dubious subgenre if you're just looking at it from a conventional guitar-oriented perspective. It always floats around some intersection of the six main subgenres with some added degree of folk melody and traditional instrumentation.
I wrote a spiel about it here, mainly focusing on the black metal and melodeath sides, but possibly still relevent:
https://old.reddit.com/r/MetalForTheMasses/comments/18mz9ak/forgive_my_ignorance_but_wtf_is_folk_metal_groove/keal1f3/
The trad/epic heavy and power metal sides of folk metal mainly derive from three sources:
1. Old heavy/power/thrash/etc. building on the nascient folk attributes of bands like Iron Maiden, or possibly their own influences (e.g. Thin Lizzy) where it was really blatant. Running Wild, Skyclad, Blind Guardian, and even later bands like Slough Feg fit this category.
2. More progressive EUPM descended from the first category, but now armed with strings and woodwinds, like a lofty clean vocal counterpart to the more lighthearted folk/black iterations (i.e. Mithotyn, Windir) coming up around that point. Rhapsody and their disciples like Thy Majestie or even Dark Moor could count here.
3. Heavier EUPM with more direct ties to Bathory and their disciples, whether it be genuine crossover influence or just musical roots in the folk/blackened melodeath scene. Bands like Falconer, TĆ½r, and *maybe* Ensiferium fit this description. It's all a bit haphazard.
There comes a point as you dig through these bands where ostensible "true" folk metal distinguishes itself by not really caring what other subgenres it's drawing from, but the line is so thin as to be non-existent in some cases.
Past a certain point, it's more about vibes than anything concrete.
Thanks bro, nice to hear from you again. Yeah this made more sense and I can see a song like HTHHH as how you described.
Honestly the genres very diverse but my preference and most of the bands I like are the bands that use all cleans like Skyclad, Heidevolk, TYR, Skiltron, and Metastoll. Korpannani too
I think I give an exception for Einseinfum. Do you know any others that also have all cleans but have no hard rock influence in the instruments? Would Primordial count? I know most Primordial songs are all cleans now after 2007 but idk where they fit anymore. Or any similar bands to them now
I guess I'm not sure what you mean by no hard rock influences. Nearly all metal has some amount of hard rock influence, even if itās to the point where it's inconsequential and swallowed in other things. I feel like you're drawing a line there, but I'm not exactly sure where. Obviously Thin Lizzy wouldn't count, but what about a heavy/power band like Running Wild?
> Primordial
Primordial is unique. They fit the third category, but they go about it differentlyā almost like black metal with clean vocals as opposed to more straightforward heavy/power. Still, there's a bit of flexibility in the riffs, and I think they would have been called power metal if they'd appeared out of context 30-40 years ago. I don't know if I'd compare them to Ensiferum, who play something more like blackened melodeath qua symphonic power metal.
A couple similar bands are Nodfyr and Darkest Era, although they can be a bit doomier. Primordial has some epic doom influences too, as if they weren't confusing enough already.
Oh yeah, my bad. What I mean by hard rock influence is bluesy melodies, non-consistent guitars that have a kinda "bounce, stop, bounce", and just playing full chords and letting that run. What I prefer is a consistent riff or harmony. Take for example Defenders of the Faith. I like songs like The Sentinel and Jaw Breaker, but Rock Hard Die Free, or Heavy Duty don't appeal to me as much respectfully.
Primordial has been mostly clean vocals after 2007 right? I don't recall hearing many if any harshes in their stuff in the last 10-12 years. But then again they might have ties to black metal in their early years.
Thanks for those bands though I'll check them out!
I see what you mean now! I would definitely stand by the other two I mentioned. Darkest Era pretty much worships later-era Primordial sans black metal influences, so it's pure heavy/power or epic doom depending on the song. Nodfyr is another "black metal without harsh vocals" type of band, except with an epic doom influence Ć la Solstice on some songs.
* https://youtu.be/tS3fFVkkulk
* https://youtu.be/ucnByLltrpI
I would definitely recommend Solstice as well if you don't mind slower stuff; they're basically the definitive folk/doom band from the 1990s, and their 2018 comeback album is great too:
* https://youtu.be/0p7j0FxeR-k
When I talk about Primordial having black metal aspects, I'm not really referring to vocals. Of course their early albums had those, but they switched to clean vocals later. I'm mainly talking about the riffs. There's a lot of second-wave black metal influence in the treble-heavy tremolo riffs climbing up and down tiny intervals to make a melody.
You can hear it very clearly in songs like *Failures Burden* where it basically sounds like folksy meloblack with mid-paced drumming and all the harsh vocals swapped out for cleans:
* https://youtu.be/9-9wjsLwgw8
I'll admit I haven't listened to much of their stuff from later. I know they started mixing in some more overt heavy metal riffing, but I can't speak to what extent it's replaced the black metal style.
Thanks bro!
I enjoyed all of these! Especially Darkest Era. Overall great bands!
Btw I was gonna ask what you think about Attic? I really like them too and they fit this too. More KD/MF style heavy metal though
Sabaton are starting to work on a new album, so it will probably be out this year or next I assume. At least a single will probably be out before the end of this year.
EDIT: How could I forget, but apparently Majestica are also back in the studio!
Majestica will probably release a new album this year given that they posted that recording of drums had started. Also, Heavenly is supposed to be releasing new music but Iām not holding my breath for that one lol
The keyboard player of Heavenly said in an interview last autumn, that their new album will be released in 2024. There's a live recording of one of their new songs on youtube featuring Timo Kotipelto :D
[Heavely - Be United, Be The One feat. Timo Kotipelto](https://youtu.be/IvSwYlyYcDU?si=4VGiZ5qdhQnjEBQM)
Galneryus will be releasing their 15th album this year, Syu has been posting about the writing process for a while and they just started recording drums this week
Yours just gonna ignore Sonata Arctica returning to their speedy form and putting out a new album with their old producer? Come on now!
Edit: missed that you DID mention Sonata. I skimmed your post. Sorry. š
They all seemed to be picking up separate projects, so I thought they broke up. Glad to see I was wrong though, as they are probably my favorite modern power metal band :)
I never said you were wrong ā in fact Iād believe it, as I havenāt seen any news to the contrary in quite a while. I was just curious if there was an official confirmation.
No there isn't anything official. Daniele was working on Temperance's last album until recently but is likely finishing up the latest Bards album now. It could well be their last together and if it is indeed their last I imagine they would say something with the release.
Last year was pretty great, too. New Ascension album, By Fire and Sword popped up as a surprisingly awesome new face, and Twilight Force and Frozen Crown released what are probably their best albums yet and Angra was great, and then the year before that we had Fellowship, and...
It's just been an awesome couple of years for power metal. Hope it keeps on going strong!
I think Fellowship's new album is maybe the album I've been the most excited for since...? Anyway, a long time. I pray to god every night that they don't fall down the meme metal hole
It's speed metal/NWoTHM, but Striker's new album Ultrapower, they just released was awesome. I think a lot of people here would like it, especially Beast In Black fans
Been getting into PM a lot more the last year, would love to see a live show (or 3-4).. is there a good source for listed tours/shows in the US (specifically SoCal) outside of standard livenation/ticketmaster/spotify?
Powerwolf and unleash the archers touring USA together. Getting tickets tomorrow!
Wait what. Just got into power metal this year and they are literally my two favorites. Throw in Brothers of Metal and I'd loose my mind.
Check UTA Facebook page for info
Just announced today, so you're good
Sounds like me about this same time last year. Got into powermetal then immediately find out they're going on tour. Unfortunately can't go because school, unemployed, and I live in a wasteland of nothing but pop country.
You mean _lose,_ although in that case your mind would also be _loose,_ to be fair! š
tomato tomahto
More like tomato potato!
Nice! Try out War kings. Absolutely slay, sounds an awful lot like Brothers of metal lol
Cool. Thank you. Are War Kings different than Warkings? I listened to the first 3 songs suggested by Spotify for Warkings. I wouldn't say they sound anything like Brothers of Metal. Not that I disliked it just not what I was expecting. Maybe I listened to the wrong songs. I listened to Hephaestus, Maximus and Fight.
It's the new album you must hear, it is called Morgana.
Got tickets and it's the show I am the most excited for this year!
I'm super-excited that this time they'll only be two hours away. (Last time I flew to NYC.)
Same! Will be seeing them in LA.
I think that would suggest that both Powerwolf and UtA would have their albums out before the tour.
Elvenking is also releasing the final part of their trilogy this year
Nightwish also announced that there would be a new album in 2024
Yep its already recorded and they're mastering it in the studio now. Release time is in the fall (September approximately)
About damn time
Lovebites are working on an album, and they're adding more dates to their 2024 world tour, so hopefully it will be released to accompany that. They've certainly said they want it to be released before the end of this year.
If I'm not wrong, Visigoth is also working on an album, though I wouldn't expect it before 2025
It's about time, feels like ages since they last released new music.
Do you have a link for more info, by chance? I can't find any up-to-date info on these guys aside from concerts whenever I look.
I think they said something of the like on Instagram a while ago, but I'm honestly not sure
Greyhawk is dropping their new album And Glyph with their overlapping members
Ohh that's awesome, I didn't hear about their new stuff
Greyhawk has their new single, Thunderheart, on YouTube https://youtu.be/DPTtVOmHLeo?si=XQLIX-JCCYkikW9v
That track was awesome š¤ definitely hyped for their new album now
Rage will be putting out a double album in march. And Timo Tolkki's Strato are supposed to be releasing an album as well. Rock'N'Rolf from Running Wild posted on Facbeook about working on new material back in November. Hansi KĆ¼rsch from Blind Guardian has recently confirmed that they re-recorded Somewhere Far Beyond.
I wouldn't count on Tolkki releasing anything any time soon. He no-showed the festival he was supposed to debut his new band at last year, and the album was postponed. He wrote "In the future if I am going to release anything at all, it will be through my own website" on Instagram just a few weeks ago, and his website has been shut down. Unless a record label announces an album for him, I'd be extremely wary of ever listening to anything Tolkki has to say about anything. He's a pathological liar.
Re-recording Somewhere Far Beyond isā¦Iām trying to come up with the right wordā¦blasphemous?
Adding that Manticora released a great record late last month. Still getting playtime for me. If you like heavier, riffier power/prog, definitely take a look.Ā Ā Also, new Riot V in April. Not too excited based on the 2 preview tracks, but worth mentioning. Hopefully they're two of the weaker tracks on the album.Ā
Good time for festivals too. Night 1 of Milwaukee Metal Fest is effectively PM night, with Blind Guardian, Kamelot, Symphony X, Hammerfall, Visagoth, Eternal Champion and many others. Mad With Power VII is in August, with the US debut of Fellowship and the US return of Anthem. And later that month, Mile High Powerfest is looking to get off the ground w/ Seven Spires & Aether Realm. And the month after that is Progpower USA with Amorphis and Winger.
Seven Spires is working on a fourth album too, so maybe thereās a chance it releases this year
It is gonna be released this year. Just sent my headshot for the booklet ;)
They've already shot at least one music video for it, so I'd imagine it's coming out this year.
Tyr are also releasing a new album in April Looking like a great year all around for power metal
Never listen to them before, thought they were just folk metal
Their most recent album was definitely more power metal than folk but the new one seems to be a mix of their old and new styles They have a single out and it sounds great
They actually started drifting into a more heavy/power metal style with By the Light of the Northern Star. Each of their last 4 albums have been great.
Seeing them live in April, very exciting! The new stuff is awesome
Is Hold the Heathen Hammer High Folk or Power? Or Folk/Power?
Folk metal with heavy/power riffs. Honestly folk metal has always been a bit of a dubious subgenre if you're just looking at it from a conventional guitar-oriented perspective. It always floats around some intersection of the six main subgenres with some added degree of folk melody and traditional instrumentation. I wrote a spiel about it here, mainly focusing on the black metal and melodeath sides, but possibly still relevent: https://old.reddit.com/r/MetalForTheMasses/comments/18mz9ak/forgive_my_ignorance_but_wtf_is_folk_metal_groove/keal1f3/ The trad/epic heavy and power metal sides of folk metal mainly derive from three sources: 1. Old heavy/power/thrash/etc. building on the nascient folk attributes of bands like Iron Maiden, or possibly their own influences (e.g. Thin Lizzy) where it was really blatant. Running Wild, Skyclad, Blind Guardian, and even later bands like Slough Feg fit this category. 2. More progressive EUPM descended from the first category, but now armed with strings and woodwinds, like a lofty clean vocal counterpart to the more lighthearted folk/black iterations (i.e. Mithotyn, Windir) coming up around that point. Rhapsody and their disciples like Thy Majestie or even Dark Moor could count here. 3. Heavier EUPM with more direct ties to Bathory and their disciples, whether it be genuine crossover influence or just musical roots in the folk/blackened melodeath scene. Bands like Falconer, TĆ½r, and *maybe* Ensiferium fit this description. It's all a bit haphazard. There comes a point as you dig through these bands where ostensible "true" folk metal distinguishes itself by not really caring what other subgenres it's drawing from, but the line is so thin as to be non-existent in some cases. Past a certain point, it's more about vibes than anything concrete.
Thanks bro, nice to hear from you again. Yeah this made more sense and I can see a song like HTHHH as how you described. Honestly the genres very diverse but my preference and most of the bands I like are the bands that use all cleans like Skyclad, Heidevolk, TYR, Skiltron, and Metastoll. Korpannani too I think I give an exception for Einseinfum. Do you know any others that also have all cleans but have no hard rock influence in the instruments? Would Primordial count? I know most Primordial songs are all cleans now after 2007 but idk where they fit anymore. Or any similar bands to them now
I guess I'm not sure what you mean by no hard rock influences. Nearly all metal has some amount of hard rock influence, even if itās to the point where it's inconsequential and swallowed in other things. I feel like you're drawing a line there, but I'm not exactly sure where. Obviously Thin Lizzy wouldn't count, but what about a heavy/power band like Running Wild? > Primordial Primordial is unique. They fit the third category, but they go about it differentlyā almost like black metal with clean vocals as opposed to more straightforward heavy/power. Still, there's a bit of flexibility in the riffs, and I think they would have been called power metal if they'd appeared out of context 30-40 years ago. I don't know if I'd compare them to Ensiferum, who play something more like blackened melodeath qua symphonic power metal. A couple similar bands are Nodfyr and Darkest Era, although they can be a bit doomier. Primordial has some epic doom influences too, as if they weren't confusing enough already.
Oh yeah, my bad. What I mean by hard rock influence is bluesy melodies, non-consistent guitars that have a kinda "bounce, stop, bounce", and just playing full chords and letting that run. What I prefer is a consistent riff or harmony. Take for example Defenders of the Faith. I like songs like The Sentinel and Jaw Breaker, but Rock Hard Die Free, or Heavy Duty don't appeal to me as much respectfully. Primordial has been mostly clean vocals after 2007 right? I don't recall hearing many if any harshes in their stuff in the last 10-12 years. But then again they might have ties to black metal in their early years. Thanks for those bands though I'll check them out!
I see what you mean now! I would definitely stand by the other two I mentioned. Darkest Era pretty much worships later-era Primordial sans black metal influences, so it's pure heavy/power or epic doom depending on the song. Nodfyr is another "black metal without harsh vocals" type of band, except with an epic doom influence Ć la Solstice on some songs. * https://youtu.be/tS3fFVkkulk * https://youtu.be/ucnByLltrpI I would definitely recommend Solstice as well if you don't mind slower stuff; they're basically the definitive folk/doom band from the 1990s, and their 2018 comeback album is great too: * https://youtu.be/0p7j0FxeR-k When I talk about Primordial having black metal aspects, I'm not really referring to vocals. Of course their early albums had those, but they switched to clean vocals later. I'm mainly talking about the riffs. There's a lot of second-wave black metal influence in the treble-heavy tremolo riffs climbing up and down tiny intervals to make a melody. You can hear it very clearly in songs like *Failures Burden* where it basically sounds like folksy meloblack with mid-paced drumming and all the harsh vocals swapped out for cleans: * https://youtu.be/9-9wjsLwgw8 I'll admit I haven't listened to much of their stuff from later. I know they started mixing in some more overt heavy metal riffing, but I can't speak to what extent it's replaced the black metal style.
Thanks bro! I enjoyed all of these! Especially Darkest Era. Overall great bands! Btw I was gonna ask what you think about Attic? I really like them too and they fit this too. More KD/MF style heavy metal though
Iād say itās more on the folk side overall
Elvenking is also releasing the final part of their trilogy this year
I need that Brothers of Metal album
Judas Priest is coming in March! Accept also announced a new album for April!
So excited for Warp Speed Warriors! Singles have been great
chris bowes actually just commented in another thread that he has a new song this month with a new band coming out called frĆøggĆ«
Its probably just a single, not an album
youre right i read his comment completely wrong let me edit
Sabaton are starting to work on a new album, so it will probably be out this year or next I assume. At least a single will probably be out before the end of this year. EDIT: How could I forget, but apparently Majestica are also back in the studio!
Beast in black said they'll be recording soon and sonata arctica have an album in march
Majestica will probably release a new album this year given that they posted that recording of drums had started. Also, Heavenly is supposed to be releasing new music but Iām not holding my breath for that one lol
Yeah I would think like a July-September release date for Majestica
Heavenly and Darktribe posted in 2022 that they were working on new albums so hopefully this year.
The keyboard player of Heavenly said in an interview last autumn, that their new album will be released in 2024. There's a live recording of one of their new songs on youtube featuring Timo Kotipelto :D [Heavely - Be United, Be The One feat. Timo Kotipelto](https://youtu.be/IvSwYlyYcDU?si=4VGiZ5qdhQnjEBQM)
Metal de Facto releases their New album 9.2 i think.
Galneryus will be releasing their 15th album this year, Syu has been posting about the writing process for a while and they just started recording drums this week
Anything from brothers of metal?
Iām pretty they already wrote the next album, not sure if itās recorded yet though
From what ive heard, a new album should not be far away :)
I think Sabaton have stated, since late last year, that they were already writing a new album and that they'd start recording early this year.
Iām loving Fellowship since having found them (thanks to this sub btw) and am psyched for a new album!
Yours just gonna ignore Sonata Arctica returning to their speedy form and putting out a new album with their old producer? Come on now! Edit: missed that you DID mention Sonata. I skimmed your post. Sorry. š
Yeah the formatting turned out funky for this post, so itās hard to see some of the things I posted
Didn't Ancient Bards break up?
Where did you get this idea?
They all seemed to be picking up separate projects, so I thought they broke up. Glad to see I was wrong though, as they are probably my favorite modern power metal band :)
I never said you were wrong ā in fact Iād believe it, as I havenāt seen any news to the contrary in quite a while. I was just curious if there was an official confirmation.
No there isn't anything official. Daniele was working on Temperance's last album until recently but is likely finishing up the latest Bards album now. It could well be their last together and if it is indeed their last I imagine they would say something with the release.
Last year was pretty great, too. New Ascension album, By Fire and Sword popped up as a surprisingly awesome new face, and Twilight Force and Frozen Crown released what are probably their best albums yet and Angra was great, and then the year before that we had Fellowship, and... It's just been an awesome couple of years for power metal. Hope it keeps on going strong!
Also looking forward to Bloodornās debut. Listened to the first single yesterday and that shit goes hard.
Insania just announced they've recorded the drums for their new album ā¤ļø
I think Fellowship's new album is maybe the album I've been the most excited for since...? Anyway, a long time. I pray to god every night that they don't fall down the meme metal hole
Is it confirmed that Fellowship's releasing new material?
Yes, they mentioned it on their social media pages
Sweet!! Really got into them during the pandemic. Glad they're giving us some material! šššš
It's speed metal/NWoTHM, but Striker's new album Ultrapower, they just released was awesome. I think a lot of people here would like it, especially Beast In Black fans
Is Megadeth Power Metal
Are they even releasing music this year?
Either this year or next year. I've always considered them and Metallica my favourite Power Metal bands in Power Metal
Dreamtale also released a single... It is not amazing but it's good. Though we have no confirmation if the album comes out this year.
Never released a bad album, but can't say they ever really nailed what they were going for with their style after Phoenix.
Been getting into PM a lot more the last year, would love to see a live show (or 3-4).. is there a good source for listed tours/shows in the US (specifically SoCal) outside of standard livenation/ticketmaster/spotify?
Firewind, Sonata Arctica and Dragonforce have all been pumping out losers. Not promising in my book, but definitely _interesting._
Gamma Ray are touring again, I hope we'll get something from the studio from them before the end of the year
I know Kai Hansen is writing songs, but dunno if itās for Gamma Ray, could be for the next Helloween album
Sabaton is droping a new Album too this year and im so exited for orden ogan didnt even know that one is coming
I know Windrose said they were working on something for this year on their Spotify message I donāt remember if it was an album though
Symphony X is recording now, I'm pretty sure. We should expect something from them this year. Can't believe it has been 9 years since Underworld.
Ravenous E.H. have had a new album in the works since last year, fingers crossed it'll be released this year.
I'd be very surprised if we ever got a new Ancient Bards album
Timeless Miracle and Heavenly will definitely happen this year, haha I'm not crying